adj
Meaning 1
Mean; abject; poor; humble; lowly.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
hean
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/hiːn/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -iːn
verb
Meaning 2
To treat with contumely; insult; humiliate; debase; lower.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, transitive
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English hene, from Old English hēan (“lowly, despised, poor, mean, bare, abject”), from Proto-Germanic *hauniz (“low, lowly”), from Proto-Indo-European *kaw- (“to degrade, humiliate”). Cognate with German höhn (“jeering, demeaning, bad”), Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌽𐍃 (hauns, “contemptible, base, humble”), Dutch hoon (“scorn, insult”), Latvian kauns (“shame, disgrace, dishonour”), Ancient Greek καυνός (kaunós, “bad”).
From Middle English henen, from Old English hīenan (“to fell, prostrate, overcome, weaken, crush, afflict, injure, oppress, abase, humble, insult, accuse, condemn”), from Proto-West Germanic *haunijan, from Proto-Germanic *haunijaną (“to humiliate”), from Proto-Indo-European *kaw- (“to degrade, humiliate”). Cognate with North Frisian huynjen (“to wound, abuse, hurt”), German höhnen (“to mock, jeer, scoff”) Swedish hån (“heckle, mocking”).